How to Cultivate a Unique Brand Personality

In the early days of Holly Meyer Design, I struggled to differentiate my brand from all the others online. I mirrored what I saw other successful brands doing. It seemed to be working well for them, so obviously it will work for me too!

Oh, how I quickly learned that is not the case. What works for one brand is not what’s going to work for another. Each brand has different audiences, services, products and stories.

After I experienced a slight brand identity crisis, I realized the dire need to embrace and infuse who I truly am into my brand no matter how different that looked online.

Once I cultivated my unique brand personality, my audience grew! I began connecting with more and more of my dreamiest people. As a brand designer, I’m a huge ambassador for injecting personality into your brand.

Why is having a brand personality so important?

It’s important to take some time to intentionally cultivate your brand personality because it enables you to stand out in a saturated industry, have a unique voice and attract more clients, customers and readers.

Brand personality allows you find your ride or die people. The people that will loyally read all of your content, buy all your products and sing your praises to everyone they meet.

How do you cultivate your brand personality?

If you’re not sure where to begin cultivating your brand personality… don’t worry! Read on for some tips to get you started.

1. Define your brand mission.

Your mission is the foundation of your brand. Your brand mission declares your purpose and influences everything you do from the products you sell and the blog posts you write to the captions to add to your Instagram posts.

Your brand mission sets you apart from everyone else in your crowded industry. Yes, there are tons of bloggers, tons of designers and tons of photographers, but it’s your brand mission that makes you different from your peers.

2. Narrow down your dream client/customer/reader.

Who is it that you’re trying to reach with your brand? Students, mothers or business owners? Create a detailed client profile that describes details about your dreamiest person. How old are they? How much money do they make? What are their hobbies? What do they enjoy reading or watching?

Once you have your client profile defined, the rest of your brand decisions will be much easier to make.

3. Select your top three brand personality traits.

Your brand personality is what your dreamies will come to expect from you whenever encounter your brand. What will your readers expect from you when they visit your blog? What will your clients experience when they work with you? What will your customers experience when they buy your product? Is your brand quick-witted, energetic, calming or adventurous?

I have some fun homework for you!

Set the timer for 10 minutes and write down the first three personality traits that come to mind.

These will become the personality traits of your brand. Here’s a handy dandy chart to get your creative juices flowing. Feel free to choose from this selection or any other traits.

Time’s up! What are your top three brand personality traits? Share in the comments below. I’d love to learn more about you and your brand!